(Newser)
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Tokyo Electric Power Co. had a disaster plan in place at its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, but certainly not a very thorough one: It only involved one stretcher, and relied heavily on a satellite phone and fax machine for emergency communications. In a look at the plan, the Wall Street Journal exposes the many parts that fell short (there are no references to obtaining outside help, like the firefighters, military forces, and US equipment that plant operators ultimately relied on), making a clear case that Tepco was vastly underprepared for an emergency on the scale of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.

In fact, the Fukushima Dai-ichi report on its accident-management protocols acknowledges that the possibility of a “severe accident” is so small as to be “practically unthinkable.” Nuclear power experts concur that few plant operators would be prepared for this level of natural disaster. Though the International Atomic Energy Agency declined to comment on whether Tepco’s plans meet IAEA guidelines, a Journal comparison shows that they generally do—with one big exception. IAEA guidelines call for “external events” like earthquakes to be covered, and the Fukushima Dai-ichi protocol doesn’t specifically cover such events.

Compared to Japan`s response to the Fukushima crisis do you think that the US is prepared to handle a similar situation here? A recent NRC report indicates how lax US nuclear facilities have become in reporting dangerous events, performing routine preventive maintenance, the installation of inferior and counterfeit parts, and not having sufficient long term emergency electrical power systems in place. Some facilities only have emergency power for 8-16 hours from batteries. Considering the poor condition of the nations electrical infrastructure one would think that all US nuclear plants would have diesel generators with the capacity to provide electricity for at least one week to the plant. Of course, a study has been ordered by the government, but in the mean time, it`s business as usual. Let us hope that these issues are corrected to ensure the safe operation of US nuclear power plants. If not, sooner or later, we may be facing a nuclear crisis here. Nevertheless, for now, are we really prepared?